1. Field of the Invention
The embodiment relates to a dryer and a foreign material removing apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a dryer is an apparatus that dries a dry target by blowing hot wind generated by a heater into a rotary drum to absorb moisture of a drying target (i.e., clothes which has been washed).
The dryer is largely classified into an exhaust type dryer and a condensation type dryer in accordance with a processing scheme of wet air containing moisture generated by drying the drying target. More specifically, the exhaust-type dryer uses a scheme that discharges the wet air discharged from the drum to the outside of the dryer, while the condensation-type dryer use a re-circulation scheme that removes the moisture by condensing the wet air discharged from the drum in a heat-exchanger and thereafter, heats a dry air without moisture again and sends it to the drum.
Meanwhile, since the drum is formed in a rotation type, the drying target housed in the drum shakes in the drum as the drum rotates. In this process, foreign materials contained in the drying target are spread in the air. That is, the foreign materials are included in the air passing through the drum.
The foreign materials contained in the air causes troubles while passing through mechanical components of the dryer. In addition, the foreign materials contained in the air are discharged to the outside of the dryer to injure user's health. Therefore, while the air passing through the drum passes through a filter, the foreign materials should be removed from the air.
In general, the filter is provided at the front portion of the drum and filters the foreign materials contained in the air passing through the drum. When the foreign materials are accumulated in the filter at predetermined levels, circulation of the air is interfered, such that cleaning is required. In general, the filter is removably coupled to the dryer and after a drying cycle is terminated, the user separates and cleans the filter.
In particular, since the foreign materials which are contained in the wet air contain moisture, the foreign materials are damply attached to the filter. In addition, as the drying cycle is performed, when the amount of the moisture contained in the air decreases, the damply wet foreign materials adhere to the filter while being dried.
According to the dryer in the related art, in order to clean the filter to which the foreign materials is adhered, there is a problem in that the cleaning should be by the user effort, such as strongly shaking off the filter.
If the state where the foreign materials adhere to the filter is ignored, proper wind quantity is not secured. As a result, since the air heated by the heater is not cooled, there is a risk of fire.
In addition, since the filter cleaning operation should be performed whenever using the dryer in order to secure the wind quantity in the dryer and prevent firing, it is troublesome to the user.